We have a legacy manager who has been with us for a decade but clearly does not have the capacity to scale to where a buyer will need them to be. How do we address this on our exit runway?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Keeping people in seats they do not GWC, which means they do not get it, want it, or have the capacity to do it, is a major liability when preparing for an exit. Buyers will conduct deep diligence on your leadership team, and they will quickly spot any team members who are dragging down operational efficiency or holding back growth. You must address these personnel issues head-on during your runway. Do not leave this problem for the buyer to solve, as they will simply discount your enterprise value to account for the risk and cost of replacing key staff. Use your Accountability Chart to clearly define the roles and responsibilities required for each seat to support your three-year picture. Sit down with the legacy manager and run a transparent, caring evaluation using the People Analyzer tool. If they are a core value fit but lack the capacity for their current seat, look for a different seat where they can succeed. If they simply cannot scale with the company, you must make the hard decision to transition them out and hire a replacement who has the capability to run the department at a larger scale. This builds a robust, buyer-ready leadership team.